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TRENTON, Ohio — A southwest Ohio school district will allow administrators to walk its hallways
with loaded handguns.

Edgewood Schools joins a handful of Ohio schools that have approved letting school personnel
carry weapons, as officials explore ways to improve security in the aftermath of deadly school
shootings last year in Connecticut and northeast Ohio.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that board members this week voted to allow school
principals and their top assistants to carry loaded guns on a voluntary basis in the district’s
five school buildings.

The administrators must hold concealed-carry licenses, and be trained and certified by the
Ohio Officer Training Academy unless they have 20 years of experience as law-enforcement officers.
The board will vote on each of 18 potential gun-carriers if they volunteer to do so.

Board member Jim Miller said the move is meant to deter potential criminals who might be
emboldened because school buildings are often designated as gun-free zones. Edgewood is a district
in a mostly rural area between Middletown and Hamilton in Butler County.

“For too long, schools have been an open invitation to people who want to do bad things to
kids,” Miller said.

Debbie Curry, a mother of two students, said she was shocked by the decision.

“It’s bringing tears to my eyes just thinking about it,” Curry said. “I’m very saddened that
our world has come to that.”

Ohio Department of Education spokesman John Charlton said districts are free to adopt their
own security policies.

“We are a local control state, and that is a local school board’s decision,” he said. “They
know what is best for their local community.”